In many cases, young family members, as soon as they are able, are sent off to work to help support the family. It's a matter of survival in developing nations.

In our nation, during our early industrial development phase, we went through the same thing.

The biggest problem is that there are truly injustices in those types of conditions. It is almost like slavery, and often like child slavery in some cases. Even with that, they are not making as much as they could in other countries nor are they held to the conditions in other countries, particularly in the west.

I personally feel that Apple and all electronics companies should make their manufacturers correct this massive problem. But they are all enjoying and reaping the profits of these types of near slavery conditions. You see the same thing in the textile industries, and ceramic industries, etc. etc.

Again, I understand that they are in a similar place as our western civilizations were at the beginning of our industrial revolution, and in time they will likely begin to fight and institute unions which when these types of things are going on, are invaluable.

NOTE: once these types of situations are corrected, unions should be disbanded as they begin to be as tyrannical as the manufacturing companies were before. By that I mean, they keep pushing for higher and higher wages till no company would want to survive in that country. It is a true cycle of how things go. Many don't realize just how bad it can get in the other direction.

But again, it is in part due to the company's greed. The company wants to keep their worker's wages down, their own salaries and perks up, and still turn a nice profit beyond that regardless of what is going on. Instead of providing a reasonable salary for their workers and a reasonable salary and perks for themselves and reasonable benefits for all workers, the management/ownership and the unions start to rip the whole system apart.

Next the owners decide it's not worth having plants in this country because there are always countries that will have cheaper wages, cheaper costs such as land and buildings, power and water and less restrictions on them in regard to safeguards for the workers, and the surrounding area or town. But even the towns are ones that are willing to sacrifice their health and well being until they realize just how much pound of flesh it ultimately costs them over the years.

So no matter what happens, it is ultimately greed of one kind or another that makes this happen.

Even in our country we see this. I live in a depressed area of Virginia, where the county and the town just approved the biggest baseload coal fired power generating plant in the state of Virginia (1500 MW). Why? Because they wooed the town, and the county with millions of dollars in taxes and perks for the town. They only see the dollar signs, not the health and welfare of their taxpayers ... they lied to themselves that some unseen gases and chemicals in the air, ground and water hasn't hurt other areas and it won't hurt anyone here. It won't shorten people's lives, it won't put undue pressure on hearts, lungs and other organs. It won't cause any kind of brain damage or other health problems. If they keep saying it, they think it will be true.

I think it happens similarly in other countries.

One day, I hope companies that need manufacturers in technology, textiles, and other types of manufacturing companies will require more from them for their workers and respect for the planet.

And I think they (those that see this inequity) are starting with Apple in this because they are the big boy in technological/electronic devices. But they should not be picking on a single company. They should be going after them all. And not let up.

likewise, acadia, i heard that on npr on saturday, (this american life) stumbled across it by accident.the story-teller is a typical liberal/socialist with an anti-productivity agenda. i.e. a bald-faced liar. over and over and over for about an hour, he confessed (in a self-covering way) to his lies.

The Fair Labor Association has proudly announced that, following its hard-hitting investigation into conditions at Apple's Foxconn plants, Apple and Foxconn will, er, start to abide by the law.

QUOTE

The investigation confirmed what campaigning groups have been saying for years. The FLA found that all three of the factories surveyedexceeded the Chinese legal limits of 40 hours per week and 36 hours maximum overtime per month.

QUOTE

The FLA isn't exactly known for hard-hitting reports. Its inspection of a Nike supplier, for example, failed to uncover the fact that staff had accumulated 600,000 hours of unpaid overtime.

And when college T-shirt manufacturer Gildan illegally fired dozens of workers for attempting to organise a trade union, the FLA acknowledged that its actions were illegal, but let it stay on as a member anyway.

QUOTE

Still, it's nice to hear that Apple plans to bring working conditions up to par, now that the FLA has suggested it. Shame it didn't do it in 2010 or 2011, though, when no fewer than five research reports from SACOM detailed labor abuses at the company.

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Stalin personally signed 357 proscription lists in 1937 and 1938 that condemned to execution some 40,000 people, and about 90% of these are confirmed to have been shot.[51] At the time, while reviewing one such list, Stalin reportedly muttered to no one in particular: "Who's going to remember all this riff-raff in ten or twenty years time? No one. Who remembers the names now of the boyars Ivan the Terrible got rid of? No one."

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Folks, you have got to remember that #1 always walks with the biggest bulls-eye on their back and I believe that I heard just last week that Apple is now number 1, even bigger then MS, Exxon, GE, anyone. So they shall continue to be attacked even though ALL of the other major corporations are just as bad or even worst. And of course I still have yet to hear a legitimate explanation of why thousands were lined outside of that despicable Apple plant to apply for just a few horrible jobs.

Acadia

The blazing evidence of immortality is our dissatisfaction with any other solution. -- Emerson

Simple... China is still a predominantly poor country. People want the jobs to be able to help their families.

Err, Ross, I was being sarcastic, I reckon that I could have worded that better. I personally believe that despite what the bleeding hearts would have us believe, that for China, those are probably excellent jobs inside of an excellent plant.

Acadi

The blazing evidence of immortality is our dissatisfaction with any other solution. -- Emerson

Err, Ross, I was being sarcastic, I reckon that I could have worded that better. I personally believe that despite what the bleeding hearts would have us believe, that for China, those are probably excellent jobs inside of an excellent plant.